1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle charging connector adapted to be coupled to a vehicle-side connector to charge a vehicle battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
A related art vehicle charging connector has a housing and a coupling portion arranged at a front opening of the housing. The coupling portion is adapted to be coupled to a vehicle-side connector. Inside the housing, a lever is arranged to extend in a front-rear direction of the charging connector. The lever has a lever bar, a lock portion disposed on the front end of the lever bar, and an unlock operation portion disposed on the rear end of the lever bar. The vehicle-side connector has a lock receiving portion engageable with the lock portion of the lever.
When charging the vehicle battery, the charging connector is coupled to the vehicle-side connector such that the lock portion and the lock receiving portion engage with each other, whereby the charging connector and the vehicle-side connector are maintained in a firmly fitted condition. When the charging is finished, the unlock operation portion is pressed to release the lock portion from the lock receiving portion, so that the charging connector can be decoupled from the vehicle-side connector (see, e.g., JP 2010-123521 A).
However, when the charging connector is, for example, used outdoors and exposed to cold temperature, water may enter the housing and freeze on an upper surface of the lever bar, and the resulting ice on the lever bar may grow due to subsequent waterdrops adhering to the ice, in which case the ice may interfere with the unlock operation of the lever, for example, by hitting an inner wall of the housing. Further, to remove the ice, the housing may need to be disassembled.